Internet betting reveals match fixing

Tennis players are alleged to have thrown matches in order to clean up with internet betting - and online gambling site Betfair is to open up its records for the authorities to try and track down the players who have been losing for cash.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has announced that it will be holding an investigation into the allegations, which came to light in the Sunday Telegraph and has signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' , allowing the sports body to examine all the internet gambling company's records.

Internet betting exchanges, such as Betfair, allow punters to see the amounts bet on any event. When some matches attracted a larger than normal amount of bets, suspicions were aroused and the ATP decided to step in.

While the players that have fallen under the anti-fixing eye of the ATP are mostly low-ranking, it's thought that bets of up to £80,000 – by way of coaches and other third parties – have been placed on the results of their matches. One player has been warned that he's under suspicion following a spate of unusual big-money betting on a game that ended with him losing in straight sets and advised not to try a similar move in the future, according to the Sunday Telegraph article.

Betfair also altered its betting procedure earlier this year in response to suspected match fixing, upping the minimum amount of tennis that must be played for a bet to be valid from one ball to one set. The company was forced to make the change after an increasing number of players - who had been attracting substantial bets against them – retiring due to injury in the course of the match.